Cowboys look to reload after winning Big 12 title

April 26, 2012|Reuters

The Sports Xchange

NCAAF Team Report - Oklahoma State - INSIDE SLANT

Success makes spring practice more productive. And it's not just because there is more excitement enveloping Oklahoma State football after a breakthrough season in which the Cowboys captured the Big 12 title and went on to win the Fiesta Bowl.

The strides made in the program have made it easier on the coaching staff to sprinkle depth into various spring drills and actually get results because the players comprehend the system and can perform what is demanded of them.

"We can run two units full speed in team period and we're pretty successful," Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said. "We can actually run some threes in there and still run plays. When we first started, we had no chance to run threes. We could barely run twos, so we've improved our depth and our players understand who we are and our tempo. That's made us a better football team."

Improvement in 2012 will depend on some of that depth flourishing in more prominent roles. The Cowboys lost their productive pass-catching tandem of quarterback Brandon Weeden and wide receiver Justin Blackmon, yet the talent assembled by Gundy and his staff makes it possible for Oklahoma State to reload after going 8-1 in the Big 12 and 12-1 overall.

Still, a process exists to get to a point where Clint Chelf or J.W. Walsh can separate himself and become the quarterback who tries to pick up on the productivity the Cowboys are accustomed to on offense.

Todd Monken, who enters his second season as offensive coordinator, is attentive to that process this spring and knows what is needed to build an attack.

"It's not always about the big-time play," Monken said. "It's eliminating the crap that gets you beat before you even have a chance. It's misalignments, the motions, a bad snap, a pick, a misread. It's all the things that play into bad football."

As demanding as it will be for replacements to step up and be as productive as Weeden or Blackmon, the Cowboys also must develop cohesiveness along the offensive front after losing valuable center Grant Garner. Oklahoma State rarely had issues with snaps last season, largely because Garner commanded the line with the Cowboys always triggering their attack out of the shotgun.

Defensively, Oklahoma State must continue to work on fundamentals. Tackling techniques were an issue at times last season when the Cowboys were intent on going for picks and strips while leading the nation in turnovers while allowing 456 yards per game.

Any hard-core work on fundamentals, however, will wait until the fall. To minimize injuries, Gundy opted to not scrimmage with full contact last spring and will stick with that no-tackling policy.

"We can have our two or three live scrimmages," said Gundy, "but we don't have to tackle all the way to the ground and take shots on players."

Oklahoma State is content Gundy can continue leading the program's uptick. The eighth-year coach was awarded with a new $30.3 million contract over eight years, which included a considerable bump in pay for the upcoming season. Gundy will make $3.275 million in 2012, a raise of more than $1 million from last season. The contract ends in 2019, when Gundy is scheduled to make $3.55 million.

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NCAAF Team Report - Oklahoma State - NOTES, QUOTES

--Pat Jones, who went 62-60-3 as Oklahoma State's coach from 1984-94, was inducted into the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. His teams went 44-15 over a five-year stretch from 1984-88, immediately after taking over for Jimmy Johnson, who moved on to the NFL. NCAA sanctions stripped the Cowboys of any television appearances for two years and bowl games for three years and stemmed from violations first committed under Johnson. Current OSU coach Mike Gundy played for Jones. "(Gundy) just kind of had that 'it factor,' even as a relatively young guy," Jones told The Oklahoman. "The guy was just probed to do the right thing."

--New kickoff rules will move the boot up five yards to the 35-yard-line, making touchbacks virtually automatic for PK Quinn Sharp, who led the nation with 61 last year when kicking off from the 30. Yet Sharp is against the rule change, knowing the Cowboys have a dangerous return man in Justin Gilbert, who scored two touchdowns off kick returns a year ago. "It's always been a part of the game that's very entertaining," Sharp said. "People like to see it. They like that big play. It's just a spark in momentum. We'll see how it plays out next year." The touchback line was moved up to the 25 from the 20, which could make Sharp and the Cowboys think twice before booting the ball through the end zone.